This invention relates generally to submersible electrical pumps and more particularly concerns potheads used to connect the submersible motors of such pumps to an electrical power source.
There are presently two types of pothead designs employed with submersible pumps. "Tape-in" type potheads include layers of insulation tape wrapped around individual electrical terminals to prevent electrical contact from occurring across phases or to ground of the power system. In this type of system, if water enters the motor, the terminals are not affected because of the insulation tape. However, installation of the "tape-in" pothead is extremely time consuming since each of the terminals must be individually wrapped. "Plug-in" type potheads include motor leads with male or female terminals preassembled in a terminal block secured in the motor head. These terminals plug into female or male terminals on the pothead. This arrangement saves time during installation but all the live terminals are exposed within the terminal block. If water entry connects the live terminals to each other or to ground, an electrical fault will occur in the system.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a plug-in type pothead in which the electrical terminals are insulated in a watertight seal preventing electrical fault in the system due to penetration of water.